(Feb. 24, 2017) – The Breakdown is back, and it was week field with plenty of news. Let’s take a look back.

Tuesday was a big day in the NWSL as home openers were announced for all 10 teams. The Breakers host longtime rivals Sky Blue FC on Sunday, April 23, at 6 p.m. ET at Jordan Field. The Breakers and Sky Blue FC will meet for the 23rd time, dating back to when they first squared off in 2009 in Women’s Professional Soccer.

“It’s a great home opener for us. It’s like a local derby,” Boston Breakers head coach Matt Beard said. “It was great to see both sets of fans at both games last season, which made for a great atmosphere. The games were entertaining and closely contested, and it will be good for the Boston fans to see the new Breakers team in 2017.”

Early Wednesday morning, Canada Women’s National Team announced its roster for the upcoming Algarve Cup in Portugal. Breakers defender Allysha Chapman was named to the roster.

The 24th edition of the invitational 2017 Algarve Cup will take place from March 1 to 8. Canada faces Denmark on March 1, Russia on March 3, and hosts Portugal on March 6, with the final match scheduled for March 8.

“This tournament will be our first opportunity to play consecutive competitive fixtures since the 2016 Rio Olympics and a chance to get our whole squad back together. The focus will be on winning the tournament, by firstly shaking off some rust and then pushing to recreate the tactical cohesion and off-field chemistry we saw in Rio,” said Head Coach John Herdman. “We have six new additions to our squad, players who showed well on our assessment camp and who will add depth to key positions and challenge the Olympic core players for places. This is a fast paced tournament where we will face one day turnarounds between games, so we will need to hit the ground running and maintain a high pace if we want to win back-to-back Algarve titles.”

Canada won the 2016 edition of the Algarve Cup, its first-ever appearance at the tournament, with a 2-1 victory over Brazil in the final match of the women's international competition. Canada reached the final after winning Group A with six points. Canada went on to face Brazil three more times in 2016, splitting a two-game home series in June before defeating Brazil for the Bronze Medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Later on Wednesday, the Breakers announced that defender Whitney Engen will not return in 2017. Engen, 29, started all 14 games she appeared in for the Breakers in 2016. She played 1,260 minutes, scoring one goal and adding one assist. Prior to coming to Boston, Engen played in 23 games combined for the Western New York Flash and Houston Dash. Capped 40 times by the U.S. Women’s National Team, Engen was part of the U.S. side that won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Thursday, the Breakers announced that forward Brittany Ratcliffe was waived. In 2016 with the Breakers, Ratcliffe started five of the 15 matches she appeared in, logging 545 minutes. She took seven shots, two of which landed on goal.

Selected No. 17 overall in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, Ratcliffe scored 26 goals and had 16 assists in four seasons with the University of Virginia. The 23-year-old Williamstown, N.J. native made 93 appearances for the Cavaliers, starting 50 of those games.